Every January, my BFFs and I gather together to summarize and conclude the passing year, and to set our minds towards the upcoming year. Today it’s already a part of our community rituals, but I remember just how it all started. It’s one thing to have your eyes on a goal and focus on achieving it, in the overall meaning, and it’s completely another thing to know how you’re going to achieve a goal of yours, within a known period of time by performing defined steps with specific measurements. Personally, I find these annual meetings as my compass that allows me to acknowledge my challenges and fuels my perseverance. Therefore I decided to invite you to join my journey, too.

First we dedicate time to the passing year, mentioning the new things we’ve learned, relevant moments and highlights, and also figuring out what are the things we wish to leave behind.

In order to create a positive and productive environment, we chose the approach of top-down definitions, and we divided the process into 2 different sections: professional development and personal development.

For each section we follow the next 3 steps:

1. Shaping the outline of our aspirations
   This is the time to lose your feet and fly as high as you can possibly dream, a word of advice from an experienced individual: the answer lies within your feelings, try to connect to yourself and be present, and the idea will simply appear. 
   Let your creativity thrive now, I even recommend creating an inspiration board, including some photos or videos that inspire you, a quote maybe, really anything that comes to mind. I would recommend to choose about 5 goals (it can go up to 10, but choose at least 4). 
   
   
2. Breaking them down to achievable and measurable milestones
   It’s time to start bringing our feet back to earth, and define major goals which are relevant and doable. Regardless of the calendar, write down the major remarks of each process. What are the sub-goals of each aspiration you chose in the previous step? 
   
   
3. Planning monthly steps
   Now it’s time to take your calendar out and start practically planning. Schedule the milestones and create a list of as-detailed-as-possible tasks you’d have to complete in order to achieve each milestone, and by the end of the year - each main goal or aspiration.

In order to actually create a focused and adaptive mindset, I believe that writing down the details of my goals provides me with the opportunity to really think them through. It’s crucial to remember that surprises always await, for better or for worse… therefore we have to keep a flexible approach and remember that there are countless ways to make our visions real.

Sticking to the annual tradition of setting intentions for the upcoming year goes beyond the routine checklist, it's a part of our holistic journey towards better healthy well-being, towards being the best version of ourselves. In addition, It’s meaningful to be a part of a group, in which things can be very personal and private yet still with the power of a community, and where each one of us has her own area of expertise. It allows us to keep track together, we support each other during the execution of our tasks, from the smallest to largest. 

It starts as a wellness routine for goal-setting, then adopting a positive and adaptive mindset transforms the process into a transformative process of personal growth. It's not just about the goals; it's about fostering a mindset that nurtures the journey towards a more fulfilled and balanced life.